AWS Step Functions

aid: step-functions
name: AWS Step Functions
description: AWS Step Functions is a serverless orchestration service that enables developers to compose distributed applications
  and APIs using visual workflows called state machines. It supports Standard and Express workflows, activities, parallel
  execution, error handling, and integrates with over 200 AWS services. Step Functions uses the Amazon States Language (ASL)
  for defining workflow logic as JSON-based state machine definitions.
type: Index
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: self-serve
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: false
  label: Freemium · Self-serve signup
  confidence: high
  source:
  - plans
  - authentication
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/step-functions.png
tags:
- API Composition
- Serverless Orchestration
- Workflow
- AWS
- State Machine
- Automation
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/step-functions/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2026-03-27'
modified: '2026-05-19'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
- aid: step-functions:step-functions-state-machines-api
  name: AWS Step Functions State Machines API
  description: Create, describe, update, delete, and list state machines
  humanURL: https://aws.amazon.com/step-functions/
  baseURL: https://states.{region}.amazonaws.com
  tags:
  - State Machines
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/step-functions-state-machines-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/step-functions/
  - type: Reference
    url: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/step-functions/latest/apireference/Welcome.html
  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/step-functions/latest/dg/getting-started.html
  - type: Pricing
    url: https://aws.amazon.com/step-functions/pricing/
common:
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/step-functions-agentic-access.yml
- type: TrustCenter
  url: security/step-functions-trust-center.yml
- type: VulnerabilityDisclosure
  url: security/step-functions-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/step-functions-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/step-functions-authentication.yml
- type: Website
  url: https://aws.amazon.com/step-functions/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/step-functions/
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/aws
- type: Console
  url: https://console.aws.amazon.com/states/
- type: Pricing
  url: https://aws.amazon.com/step-functions/pricing/
- type: Blog
  url: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/category/compute/aws-step-functions/
features:
- name: Standard Workflows
  description: Long-running, durable state machines with exactly-once execution semantics
- name: Express Workflows
  description: High-volume, event-driven workflows with at-least-once execution
- name: State Machine Versioning
  description: Publish, manage, and deploy versioned state machine definitions
- name: State Machine Aliases
  description: Create aliases (e.g., PROD, STAGING) pointing to specific state machine versions
- name: Activity Workers
  description: Poll for and process work items from Step Functions activity queues
- name: AWS Service Integrations
  description: Direct integrations with 200+ AWS services via optimized and SDK integrations
- name: Map State
  description: Parallel iteration over input arrays with distributed map for large-scale processing
- name: X-Ray Tracing
  description: Built-in AWS X-Ray integration for distributed tracing of workflow executions
- name: CloudWatch Logging
  description: Configurable execution history logging to CloudWatch Logs
- name: KMS Encryption
  description: Customer-managed KMS key encryption for state machine definitions and execution history
useCases:
- name: Microservice Orchestration
  description: Coordinate calls across multiple microservices with error handling and retries
- name: Data Processing Pipelines
  description: Build ETL and ML data pipelines with parallel processing and error recovery
- name: Human Approval Workflows
  description: Pause state machine execution waiting for human approval via callback tokens
- name: Event-Driven Automation
  description: React to AWS events and automate operational workflows
- name: API Gateway Integration
  description: Expose Step Functions workflows as REST APIs via API Gateway integration
integrations:
- name: AWS Lambda
  description: Invoke Lambda functions as tasks in workflow state machines
- name: Amazon SQS
  description: Send and receive messages from SQS queues in workflows
- name: Amazon SNS
  description: Publish notifications to SNS topics from state machines
- name: Amazon DynamoDB
  description: Read and write DynamoDB items directly from state machines
- name: Amazon ECS/Fargate
  description: Run containerized tasks as workflow steps
- name: AWS Glue
  description: Trigger Glue ETL jobs from state machine executions
- name: Amazon SageMaker
  description: Train and deploy ML models via SageMaker integrations
- name: Amazon API Gateway
  description: Expose Step Functions as HTTP REST APIs
solutions:
- name: Serverless Orchestration
  description: Coordinate serverless function chains without managing servers
- name: Workflow Automation
  description: Automate complex business processes with visual workflow design
- name: Distributed Systems Coordination
  description: Manage distributed application state with built-in error handling
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com